Glider



May 12, 1942. J. c. FELDMAN GL IDER Filed Oct. 4, 1940 Patented May 12, 1942 GLIDER Jacob C. Feldman, Boston, Mass.,.assignor to New EnglandBedding Company, Medford, Mass., a corporation. of Massachusetts Application October 4,1940, Serial N5. 359,628

.. ZClaims.

This invention relates to gliders of the type having a swinging seat section pivotally connected at its ends to a stationary supporting section. Furniture of this type is generally used outdoors, particularly on porches, and although it is often desirable to move a glider from place toplace, it is extremely difficult to do, due to the lack of a rigid connection between the two sections,jparticularly with the so-called underslung construction in which the stationary section is practically inaccessible. Ifset on or in the vicinity of 'a rug, or if there is furniture in close proximity thereto, it usually requires two persons to move a glider without displacing surrounding furniture,'since the entire structure must be lifted bodily from the floor.

The principal objects of the present invention .are to overcome the aforementioned difiiculties and to provide a glider'which is of simple design and of attractive appearance, which is of strong and durable construction, and which may be easily and conveniently moved from place to place by one person with little effort; and to provide a glider in which the seat section may be quickly and securely locked to the stationary section so as not only to facilitate moving the glider, but also to prevent objectionable sway when the glider is being used as a bed.

Further objects relate to various features of construction and will be apparent from a consideration of the following description and the accompanying drawing, wherein Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a glider constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of one end thereof;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevation of the other end; and

Fig. 4 is an elevational detail, viewed from the rear of the glider, showing the locking means.

The particular embodiment herein shown is an underslung construction which comprises a swinging seat section designated by numeral I and a stationary supporting section designated by numeral 2, both of which sections may be of conventional design and construction.

The section I comprises the usual mattress supporting frame 3 having longitudinally extending members 4, 4 and transversely extending members 5, 5 an adjustable back rest 6 which is pivotally secured at I to the mattress supporting frame 3, and pillow arms 8 at each end. The ends of depending U-shaped frames ll), of somewhat less depth than the height of the seat section above the floor, are rigidly secured to the longitudinal members 4, t adjacent to their ends. The stationary section 2 comprises the usual upright supporting members l2 and I3 which are secured at their upper ends to transverse frame members I4 and I5 and longitudinal frame members I6 and IT. The lower ends of the uprights are secured to transversely extending members 29 and 2|, each 'of which extends outwardly from the uprights and, in efiect, constitute legs for supporting the stationary section.

The ends of the members I4 and I5 are piv otally connected with the upper ends of links 22 and 23, the lower ends of which are pivotally connected with the closed ends of the U-shaped members Ill, thereby to support the seat section I for swinging movement. The length of the links and the construction and arrangement of parts are such that the seat section is normally supported at a slight angle of inclination, and it will be observed that the front lengths 23 are somewhat longer than the rear lengths 22, thereby to produce a sway or gliding action when the seat section is swung.

The ends of the legs or members 20 are provided with feet 25 made of rubber or like resilient material adapted to provide a frictional grip on the floor or supportingsurface, and the legs of members 2! are provided with rollers 25 which turn on axes extending transversely of the glider. Since the rollers 26would elevate one end of the section more than the feet 25, it will be observed (Figs. 3 and 4) that the uprights l3 are shorter than the uprights l2, so that the frame members |4-l1 are maintained in horizontal position.

In order to lock the seat section so that the glider may be used as a bed, or conveniently moved from place to place, the transverse members l4 and I5 of the stationary section, adjacent to their rear ends, are formed with openings 28 (Fig. 4) and adjacent to each end the longitudinal frame member 4 of the seat section is provided with a latch 30 pivoted at 3|, the free end of the latch being hook-shaped, as indicated at 32, to fit into the opening 28. The latches '30 are normally held by friction in a position alongside the outer face of the frame member 4 and the construction and arrangement of parts is such that when the seat section is idle the latches may be swung downwardly so that the hooked ends 32 project into the openings 28, thereby to lock the two sections together.

A glider constructed in accordance with the present invention may be used in the conventional manner and it will be noted that since the rollers turn on axes extending transversely of the section there is no danger of the glider moving backwardly or forwardly when a person sits down or gets up. Moreover, since a substantial part of the weight of an occupant is borne by the rubber feet 25, thereby increasing the frictional grip normally exerted by them, there is no danger of the gliders moving lengthwise when used in the ordinary manner. The feet 25 thus cooperate with the rollers 26 to hold the glider against accidental movement.

If it be desired to move the glider, it is advisable first to lock the two sections in the manner above described, and by exerting a slight lifting force on the left-hand end (Fig. 1), sufficient merely to raise the feet 25 from the floor, the glider may easily be rolled from one place to another, although if desired, the sections may first be locked together and the entire structure bodily lifted and moved to the desired location. It will be noted that in either case the two sections may be positively locked together and one is not confronted with the difficulties usually encountered when attempting to move gliders of conventional construction. It will also be observed that since it is necessary to lift only the lefthand end of the glider, the larger part of its weight is borne by the rollers 26, and hence only described, may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A glider comprising an elongate stationary section having at each end upstanding supportl,

ing members and transversely extending members constituting legs for supporting the section, an elongate seat section having adjacent to each end depending members disposed in closely spaced relation to said upstanding supporting 50 members, link members pivotally connecting said supporting members and said depending members so as to support the seat section for swinging movement, the construction and arrangement of parts being such that the ends of the stationary section are not conveniently accessible so as to permit the glider to be lifted for movement from place to place, the legs at one end of said stationary section having rollers with fixed axes extending transversely of the section and the legs at the opposite end having resilient feet adapted to exert a frictional gripping action on a floor when the glider is occupied and thus cooperating with said rollers to prevent accidental movement of the glider both longitudinally and transversely, and releasable latch means comprising interlocking elements carried by the two sections for locking the seat section against swinging movement when the glider is being moved from place to place.

2. A glider comprising an elongate stationary section having at each end upstanding supporting members and transversely extending members constituting legs for supporting the section, an elongate seat section having adjacent to each end depending members disposed in closely spaced relation to said upstanding supporting members, link members pivotally connecting said supporting members and said depending members so as to support the seat section for swinging movement, the construction and arrangement of parts being such that the ends of the stationary section are not conveniently accessible so as to permit the glider to be lifted for movement from place to place, the legs at one end of said stationary section having rollers with fixed axes extending transversely of the section and the legs at the opposite end having resilient feet adapted to exert a frictional gripping action on a floor when the glider is occupied and thus cooperating with said rollers. to prevent accidental movement of the glider both longitudinally and transversely, and a latch device having cooperative parts carried by the sections adjacent to the end opposite said rollers and operative to lock the seat section against swinging movement when the glider is being moved from place to place.

JACOB C. FELDMAN. 

